What we think: Schools need uniter to maintain accountability

August 2, 2013

When Tony Bennett became Florida's new education commissioner eight months ago, he was seen as a dynamic, if divisive, champion of school grading, vouchers, charter schools and teacher pay for performance.

But Bennett promised he'd learned lessons from a rocky tenure as schools chief in Indiana, where he'd lost a November re-election campaign. And to critics of Florida's high-stakes testing culture, he offered this assurance: "No one minds being measured if they believe the measurement to be fair."

In the end, questions of fairness brought an abrupt end to Bennett's tenure. He resigned Thursday amid a grade-manipulation scandal.

In his wake, the personable commissioner left an impression that school grades can be rigged. And in so doing, he inflicted yet another black eye on Florida's controversial but essential effort to reform public education.

Bennett's resignation followed a report by The Associated Press, which uncovered emails suggesting that as Indiana's schools chief, he arbitrarily raised a charter school's grade from C to A because he considered it to be a top performer. The school's founder was a major Republican contributor who had donated more than $100,000 to Bennett's failed re-election campaign.

After the report, Bennett vehemently denied that his intervention had anything to do with politics or promoting charter schools. But the appearance was impossible to shake.

The scandal followed Bennett's recommendation last month that the Florida Board of Education prop up school grades again this year, creating a "safety net" that prevented any school from dropping more than one letter grade. A similar policy was adopted last year, before Bennett got here, because of falling FCAT scores.

Next year Florida is moving to a different set of standards, called Common Core. And the next commissioner must soon decide whether the state, or a private company, will develop the successor test — a big-money decision that, for credibility's sake, must be made by someone who doesn't give the appearance of being swayed by a political agenda.

Bennett did the right thing in resigning, even though Gov. Rick Scott said he was "doing a great job." As the governor searches for a new education commissioner, a focus on accountability will remain front and center, as it should. There are still too many children in Florida dropping out, failing to read at grade level and losing their shot at the American dream.

But wouldn't it be refreshing if this time around, the governor could not only embrace conservative reformers, but also reach out to other stakeholder groups that could help create lasting change?

Rather than a divider, the state needs a uniter who can rally disparate people around a common shared value: creating a prosperous future for Florida's children.